I have ordered a "refurbished" Dell system that should arrive mid to late next week. I may have to add in a video card for it.

The PC I am using is older (2005) and frankly is having issues. Its time to finally retire this guy and get a newer one.

I was able to get this PC for $178 on Amazon. The support people are answering all of my questions in a timely fashion. Upgrade of video card would run $30.

Its going to be nice to have a faster system again. I really miss my "workhorse" pc that had power/motherboard issues. Really wanted to rebuild it and go from there but alas .. its was not going to work out.

Pros:Its Windows 7 Pro - so all of the RAM is usable for applications (for the most part). I use Photoshop a lot and this will really help. Also loading the map overlays into the map editor sometimes is slow.

The processor is light years faster than the one I am using.

Hard drive is much larger (1TB vs. 150 GB). My backup 1TB drive (external case) is failing. This pc will arrive just in time for me to transfer imporant game design files over to new drive.

Cons:Insufficient video.Power supply inadequate for better cards.

I knew this going into it. You cant beat the price ($176). With additional funds I will get the new graphics card and see if I can get by without upgrading the power supply (but I doubt it ....).

I miss the days when I had a 1TB drive AND a 1.5 TB drive. The 1.5TB drive was dropped by moi and it will run 2k to repair. I am hanging onto just in case I come into a huge amount of money! Or maybe recover a drug lord's suitcase here at the beach

The main thing is: I dont want to be dead in the water at this point and this system I am using is showing signs that it has had enough.

important is at least 2 different forms of backups in case one backup fails. Some years back as I added new drives and wanted to restore my system from one of the backup drives but for what ever reasons that drive was dead althougth I had just made a complete backup on it some hours before. Good was that I had not only a second backup drive but also the old drives that I had replaced. I can't emphasize enough that a single backup is not enough.

Author:

Bill Peters [ Thu May 11, 2017 11:35 pm ]

Post subject:

Re: Trusty New Steed (PC) Ordered

The main game dev. backup point for me remains John Tiller's server. For anything JTS related that is where I put the game files I build, source artwork files (unit and leader images) and my various spreadsheets and other game aids.

I don't trust memory sticks. They have been known to lose data. Very susceptible to magnetic forces from what I have heard.

So I have DVDs, back up hard drive and the JTS server.

Author:

Jeff Mathes [ Fri May 12, 2017 7:31 am ]

Post subject:

Re: Trusty New Steed (PC) Ordered

Just upgraded my HD last week to a Solid State Drive, 1TB capacity, and fast. My old conventional HD was giving indications it was not much longer for the world, so made the switch but kept the old drive in the machine. Also added 8GB more of RAM. Figured it was a good expenditure as a life extension (LE) for a good PC that has served me well for about five years.

Unfortunately, changing out drives required reloading all the HPS/JTS games. With the new serial number system implemented by JTS. I'm still waiting for them to be sent - day 3 and counting...

Author:

Bill Peters [ Fri May 12, 2017 6:30 pm ]

Post subject:

Re: Trusty New Steed (PC) Ordered

I would love to help you with the serial codes for Leipzig (and any other game you helped with me) but the sheets that I had for the other games are on a damaged hard drive. I highly suggest that everyone keep a spreadsheet/notepad file of all of your serial codes for the games so that you can quickly and easily reinstall your games if you need to.

I have been doing this since John switched over to the newer system. Really helps Rich H. out too.

Author:

Jeff Mathes [ Fri May 12, 2017 6:51 pm ]

Post subject:

Re: Trusty New Steed (PC) Ordered

No worry Bill. Rich got back to me today.

Author:

Bill Peters [ Wed May 17, 2017 8:36 pm ]

Post subject:

Re: Trusty New Steed (PC) Ordered

New PC arrived .... worked fine out of the box. Video performance was surprising for a built in card.

I cant figure out how to adjust the page file but I will figure it out by tomorrow.

Cant wait to get all of the software installed and transfer over to using it. Other than only being able to use one monitor for now its a really speedy system and using Windows 10 was not as hard as I thought it might be. Just not sure where to find everything yet.

Go figure: going to help and typing in "Virtual memory" or "adjust page file" was useless. Oh I forget ... its a Microsoft OS product

8 GB of RAM - all seen by Windows 10 Professional. Been dying to see that in a system. Been stuck at the 2GB barrier for so long.

Author:

Bill Peters [ Thu May 18, 2017 7:52 pm ]

Post subject:

Re: Trusty New Steed (PC) Ordered

Just installed all of the Nap series games this morning ... in 20 mins.

This PC is super fast.

The boot time is 40 seconds from powering up until it gets to the login/password prompt screen.

I installed my game development environment today. I have to wait on a video cable adapter so I can hook up my larger monitor to the Dell PC. The older monitor is a bit hard on the eyes so I might work on a map on the old PC and other minor work until the small adapter comes in the mail.

So far so good with some minor exceptions. Office installed without a hitch today. I still have to install Ultra Edit/Ultra Compare and a few other programs (besides games).

Author:

Bill Peters [ Wed May 24, 2017 6:30 pm ]

Post subject:

Re: Trusty New Steed (PC) Ordered

I should have entitled this "Alice and what happened when she fell down into that rabbit hole"

The adventure continues ...

Ordered a video adaptor plug for the back of the Dell computer. The onboard video will not handle DVI monitors. So ....

I ordered a Radeon 6350 SFF card (small form factor) and it needs a more powerful power supply. Found a 275 watt power supply. It runs $50 with shipping. Going to order that so I can use both monitors again.

Keyboard - the Dell keyboards are hard on my hands. Having used an ergonomic keyboard for years I find it very tiring to use. Not only that but I seem prone to make more mistakes with it too. The Carpal Tunnel is coming back ... I ordered a PS to USB adaptor. Its on its way. Will arrive next Thursday. Hoping that it works. If it doesnt I found a nice white keyboard for about $40 I could get.

My Topo50 digital software will not work with the onboard video. Neither will a new game project I am trying to start up. Its probably the Open GL issue. Onboard video doesnt support it it would seem.

Video editing software I use to create custom acoustic guitar videos is not working. Also need to use the more recent version and its going to run $40.

Bottom line .... I think I should write crime novels for a living!

Or maybe publish a book on how to bake potatoes

I should have all of this sorted out soon. Right now one of my problems I am trying to sort out is how to get the folder view to remain the same when I close them. The folders inherit the view of the last closed folder. Not a huge issue. I figure I have made it this far. Mr. Toad and I will figure it out!

Author:

Bill Peters [ Sat Jun 03, 2017 4:39 pm ]

Post subject:

Re: Trusty New Steed (PC) Ordered

Video card showed up on Wednesday. Power supply delivery was put off til Friday because the package was put on the wrong truck for delivery.

I got the power supply but it was the wrong type of motherboard power connector.

I installed the video card hoping that the current power supply would work. It DID!

I am now using both monitors again. All of the problems that software had with no Open GL ability are over. New project game software loaded fine (this is with another game company). I can start up this new work soon I hope.

Here are the issues outstanding:

1. The ribbon cable for the video card to a VGA input connector was too short. I need a longer ribbon cable so I can put the case lid back on.

2. The older PS/2 keyboard will not work with the new PC. I need to get a new USB ergonomic keyboard. I found one online for a total of $32. For now I will suffer along with the Dell keyboard.

Its nice to have both monitors running again. Just cant be as productive without them both.

Author:

Christian Hecht [ Sat Jun 03, 2017 5:08 pm ]

Post subject:

Re: Trusty New Steed (PC) Ordered

I hope the power supply can take even heavy workloads, would be bad if it bails out. Maybe a little graphic & CPU stress test would show if the system runs reliable under such conditions.